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Dozens of officials from the natural gas industry, Mountain View Area School District and Susquehanna County gathered at the Mountain View High School recently to celebrate a monumental partnership between the district and natural gas utility Leatherstocking Gas Company.

The ceremony represented the culmination of a four-year, $1.8 million project to upgrade the school district's aging wood-burning heating system with a new natural gas system that will serve the future of the school district for years to come.

District Superintendent Dr. Michael Elia explained that the district's old system essentially used steam created by a wood-burning furnace to heat the school in the winter – a system he said was extremely high-maintenance and difficult to control.

The new natural gas system, on the other hand, will pipe in gas from a nearby William's transmission pipeline nearly 5,000 feet away to five gas meters at the school's facilities. The gas is sourced from Coterra Energy – meaning that the energy fueling the student body this winter will come directly from Susquehanna County.

"Our mantra has been 'local gas supporting local people,'" said Leatherstocking CEO Tony Dorazio. "And this partnership really represents the culmination of that. Our mission is to bring reliable, sustainable, and affordable energy to the local area, and with a forward-thinking school district and local government, we hope that continues to grow."

Susquehanna County Commissioner Alan Hall, along with his fellow commissioners David Darrow and Robert McNamara, shared Dorazio's vision, noting the millions of dollars of economic impact that the natural gas industry has already brought to the county.

"We started meeting with Leatherstocking back in 2012 to try to get local gas here to the people of Susquehanna County," stated Hall. "They stepped up then, and they're stepping up now."

Dr. Elia stated that the project was more than just a utility upgrade.

"This brings our facilities up to the higher standard that we've come to expect from our students as well," he said.

Vice President of Energy Supply Julie Lewis thanked the many individuals that played a vital role in the project, from school officials to the workers of Leatherstocking, Coterra and Williams, to the landowners who agreed to let the service line travel through their land, to the local elected officials. She added that the Pennsylvania Pipeline Investment Program (PIPE) grant was a pivotal piece of the puzzle.

"That grant helped pay for half of this project," she said. "That program wasn't funded by the state last year, but we hope it gets funded this year, because it is a huge help to bring gas to rural communities that have been here for generations."

The interconnect project is expected to be completed in October.

The September meeting of the Harford Township Supervisors took all of 20 minutes. With Dustin Walker absent, Robert Rex and Kyle Payne were hard pressed to find something on the 2-point agenda to talk about. At least the meeting was well advertised:

No matter. Shawn Krause, a member of the Board of Directors of the Harford Township Municipal Authority, sitting at the table in Mr. Walker's accustomed spot, provided a report on the major project to transform the ball field behind the Harford Village Apartments into a multi-purpose park. So far the Township has spent about $18,000 on the work that is expected to end up costing half a million dollars. Peg Smith, one of the Township's auditors, requested more detail about how the Authority plans to pay the Township back for the money it put up front to obtain the grant that funds the major part of the project. Mr. Krause said that the Authority will be started a fund-raising effort to help pay for additional work at the park.

The Supervisors reported no progress on the Township's dispute with the Harford Fair over sewage handling. Nor has there been further word from Pennsylvania American Water on its proposal to buy out the Township's water and sewer systems.

Road Maintenance Supervisor Kyle Payne reported that Stevens Road is to be refurbished with tar and chips very soon, along with Tripp Road. This work is funded by the gas company Coterra.

The Harford Supervisors take their budget seriously. They have scheduled a pair of workshops focused on next year's budget on October 14 and October 28, beginning at 5:30pm. The regular public Supervisors' meeting for October is scheduled between those dates, on Tuesday, October 21, 2025 beginning at 7:00pm. All meetings are held at the Township office on Route 547.